


Prickling Doubt and Burnout

by lightanddarklove



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Gen, Injury, Its gets a bit gross with the injury description but its only after the greenhouse, Mental Health Issues, Mild Blood, Self-Doubt, Self-Esteem Issues, a bit of bg BisPearl, also the boy is pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-06
Updated: 2020-03-27
Packaged: 2021-02-28 18:40:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,545
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23041900
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lightanddarklove/pseuds/lightanddarklove
Summary: Steven doesn’t feel like he can talk to Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl about his problems, so he finds another way to distract himself until he can find the right words to say. Unfortunately for him, cleaning the greenhouse doesn’t come without more hurt.Takes place right after Prickly Pair. Steven-centric & Cannon compliant through that episode. Hurt/ Comfort but the ratio’s about 80/20%. T rating is for Swearing and Injury description.
Relationships: Amethyst & Steven Universe, Bismuth & Pearl (Steven Universe), Bismuth & Steven Universe, Connie Maheswaran & Steven Universe, Garnet & Steven Universe, Lion & Steven Universe, Pearl & Steven Universe
Comments: 6
Kudos: 134





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Edit: [I tweaked a few things here and there, and I am working on continuing this but if I don't get it done by Thursday this may be just a standalone piece. So far the only minor detail that I got wrong that would not be cannon, is that they no longer have a closet under the stairs with the repaired house. So where are they storing their cleaning supplies? I kind of doubt they’re in Steven’s closet upstairs, so if anyone could tell me where their pantry or something is I will fix that bit.]
> 
> I wrote this trying to get some pain out of my system but I didn’t get to write as much as I would have liked before the hiatus ended. If the new episodes don’t make me feel like I am treading the same ground as cannon, I have more ideas to continue this. 
> 
> Also, Steven swears, but not out loud, so I haven’t let Steven say fuck yet >:)c

“I think I’ve said enough.” Steven’s voice was low and he ducked his head as he turned to walk back to his room. The concerned gazes of the Crystal Gems followed him, but they didn’t press. He spoke once more over his shoulder as he climbed the stairs, not turning to face them. “I’m sorry for all the trouble I caused… again.” With two more steps, he walked through the doorway and out of sight.

He waited a moment in his room, staring at the cactus flower in his hand and repeatedly turned it gently between two fingers. He almost expected one of the gems to follow him to his room and insist he talk to them, but there was nothing. He sighed and looked around the room. With the exception of the open balcony door, floor and bed littered in cactus spines and comforter not on his bed, there was little out of place.

He took one more step and was reminded with a sting of pain of the needles still embedded in his chest, legs, arms and face. He paused and carefully put down the flower near the tv. Grabbing the comforter and folding it over, he placed it on the floor. He quickly retrieved a pair of tweezers and a mirror from the area above his bed. With a grunt of discomfort he sat down on the comforter to remove the needles pricking his skin. He started with left hand palm, and plucked them out one by one. Each spine stung slightly and he quietly hissed through his teeth as he pulled them out. He willed himself not to anger as he worked.

 _It’s not worth it,_ he thought. _Cactus Steven had caused enough damage, I don’t need the rage of Pink Steven too._ He worked his way from his palm to his arm, focusing on his breathing and the morning light outside. _Hopefully Cactus Steven will find some place he can belong. It would be nice if at least one of us could._ He shook his head as he pulled a needle from his sensitive triceps’ area. _Thinking that way isn’t helping. I messed things up here, but it doesn’t mean that I don’t still have a place here, right?_ He swiped a tear away from his eye with his now un-prickly left hand. He knew that tear wasn’t just from the cactus spines, but he couldn’t do any damage control like this. _It sucks feeling like I can’t do anything right, but I have to try. I’m not going to run away from all my problems like **she** did. I can clean up my own mess._

Plucking a spine from his left shoulder he dropped it in the pile with the others and switched his tweezers to his left hand. _I’ll wait to heal myself until all of these plant materials are cleaned up. I can’t risk bringing another plant to life and causing more damage. These spines are nothing compared to getting head-butted in the face or the toxic injector fluid on my arm._ The faces of an angry Jasper and Spinel came to mind as he thought of old injuries, but he tried to shake the thoughts away. The burn on his arm had long healed but that patch of skin still had discoloration from the injury. His eyes were drawn to the burn as he removed more needles. Tiny drops of blood marred his skin further from the cactus gashes, but very few actively dripped, as most of the pricks only went skin deep. _I’m sturdier than most people_ , he thought bitterly. _I can handle it._ He quickly wiped at the lightly bleeding cuts to prevent them from dripping into his comforter and instead rubbed it into his ruined T-shirt. _No salvaging this, it’s too full of holes. Might as well use it as a rag._

Once he had reached the end of his shoulder, he picked up the mirror from the floor and began tweezing the spines on his face. He bit his lip as he plucked each needle from his cheeks, taking care not to let out an audible cry that could be heard downstairs. _No need to worry them_ , he mused. He took a closer look at his reflection, swiping away the few blood drops that rested on his face and noticed a dark spot beginning to form above his eyelid. T _hat must have been from when Cactus Steven bounced my shield back at my eye. I deserved that._ He pulled more needles from the area around his brow, biting back tears. _I was as so stupid to think that fighting him was the answer. The house is smashed and the gems got hurt because of me. I should have been better to him. When will I learn how to not be so impulsive?_

With a few more tweezes he moved downward, plucking spines from his chest. He stopped after a moment and tried to remove his shirt, hoping to get all of them from his torso and waist in one pull, but as he tugged the sharp needles didn’t want to free themselves from his skin and simply tugged at his injuries. He huffed in disappointment and continued his slow methodical plucking. _This hurts, but it could have been worse. Get over yourself. Don’t need to make a big deal of it._ He moved further down to his abdomen, biting his lip as he pulled from the tender area around his gem.

Before long, he was free of spines, front to back. He stood and bubbled the pile of spines before floating the plant matter over to his trash and popping the bubble, causing the pile to fall into it with a quiet scraping noise. The room still had many needles littering the floor and Steven moved to go back downstairs to get the vacuum.

On the main floor, the gems were all trying to address the still spraying sink in various ways. Garnet was on her back, laying on the floor where the sink used to be, wrench in hand. She was trying to tighten a bolt to stop the flow of water and finding it slick and difficult. Pearl had a mop and bucket she was pushing across the floor, trying to clean its soaked surface. Amethyst had a funnel plugged into the sink hole and a hose in her other hand, which emptied into a large plastic storage container on the floor. Pearl and Amethyst looked up as Steven moved across the room but Garnet continued her efforts.

“I’m cleaning up the cactus needles upstairs,” Steven said, unable to keep their gaze. He moved to the cupboard beneath the stairs, carefully stepping over the broken debris of the coffee table. He retrieved the vacuum and moved to leave.

“Steven,” Pearl called. “Once we get the sink issue under control, we can help you with the dome, if you’d like.”

“Or just in general,” Amethyst added. “Did you feel like talking about it?”

“Don’t trouble yourself. I can handle it,” Steven replied, turning up the stairs. Amethyst looked away sadly.

“Got it,” Garnet said, tightening the bot into place and stopping the spray of water. “Steven, hold on.” He stopped on the landing and turned to face them. “The oven likely will need replacement parts, as water spray got everywhere. You’re not going to want to use the microwave either, so when you get hungry, I’ll have foods that don’t require preparation set in a bag by the stairs.”

“Thanks,” he answered and turned back to his room.

The spines littered the floor and bed when he came back upstairs, vacuum in tow. He turned over everything that had been on the floor and plugged in the vacuum. He flipped its switch and began to methodically work his way across his floor. He quietly cursed himself whenever he accidentally stepped on a spine the vacuum didn’t pick up. He tried to focus on the task at hand, working his way from the stairs toward the opposite side of the room.

After a bit, he noticed his phone light up from his position standing on the bed. He glanced up, continuing to work the vacuum over the needle covered mattress with one hand. He reached out and unlocked his phone, noticing a notification from Connie. That brought a small but genuine smile to his face. He remembered that she had a presentation today and he should wish her good luck in his reply.

Upon opening his messages, he saw a smiling selfie. She had taken the photo from an upper angle, flattering her young features. Her short hair looked neatly styled in a bob, as was typical, but there was a trace of mascara and blush, which was uncommon for her. She wore an azure blue button-up sweater half closed over a grey and white horizontal striped shirt, with a navy knee-high tapered skirt and black leggings, and dark grey ankle boots. She looked like she was putting her best foot forward for her presentation and his smile grew, gazing fondly. Her caption read: “Getting ready for the day. How bout you?”

He paused to admire her. He hadn’t smiled this much since before Cactus Steven started spouting back his dark thoughts, not really. All of his smiles for the gems the night before were placating smiles, not actually because he was happy, and when talking to them in the midst of his fight with his mutated plant, they were entirely false. However, the simple act of a picture sent just for him made him light up.

He replied, “Doing some cleaning. I haven’t gotten changed yet. I’m not presentable yet, haha, but you look,” he paused. _Beautiful? Gorgeous? No, too much. Cute? Yes, but also she’s matured so much, she might not like that. Perfect? No, **way** too much. Terrific? That sounds stilted. How about… _“Fantastic. Good luck on your presentation today, I believe in you!” After looking over his text again, he added heart and star emojis to the end and hit send. He slipped his phone into his sweatpants pocket and continued to work on vacuuming the top-sheet of his bed to rid it of cactus spines. He worked his way from foot of the bed forward, noting that the pillow was untouched by the needles. He finished his way across the bed, hopped down and placed the vacuum on the ground, shutting it off. A new ping on his phone took his attention.

“You could have just rolled out of bed and you’d look good,” came Connie’s reply.

 _Hah, not today,_ he thought ruefully. _I don’t want her to see me like this_. Another message popped up before he could come up with a response.

“What made you catch the cleaning bug so early?”

 _How do I say what happened without making her worry?_ He thought. _I can’t distract her from her presentation._ “Well, I woke up early and…” He paused. _Cactus Steven broke a lot of stuff, but I definitely don’t want to tell her that_. “-there was a bit of a mishap in the greenhouse. Just doing a bit of work to put everything back in its place.”

He slipped the phone in his pocket and pulled the top sheet off the bed, looking it over. There were minor tears in a few spots, but it didn’t look too damaged. _Maybe dad knows someone who can fix it._ Steven considered. _I don’t want to ask Pearl, she’s already helping fix the mess downstairs._ He wadded the sheet into a ball and tossed it next to his hamper.

He took the folded over comforter in his left hand and walked to the balcony door, opening it with his right. The morning air was cool on his arms and chest through the holes in the shirt. Taking the comforter in both hands he walked to the balcony’s edge. He tried to enjoy the view of the beach as he shook the comforter out over the deck. The cactus needles shed from the comforter with a few good shakes. Most of them fell to the beach below but a few littered the wood beneath his feet.

He took a few careful steps back, avoiding the spines and walking back into his room, comforter draped over his arms. He closed the door behind him and fished a spare sheet from the bottom drawer of his dresser. He quickly made his bed and looked around his room. With the exception of the wadded sheet by his hamper and the trash bin brimming with cactus spines everything looked in order.

He walked to his shoes stowed in the corner and slipped them on. Before turning around, a new ping brought his attention back to his phone. He promptly pulled it from his pocket and opened his texts. “Is everything ok?” Connie’s text read.

Steven chewed his lip as he considered how to put her mind at ease. _Now you’ve made her worry. Way to go,_ he thought bitterly. He set the phone down on the bed and ran a hand through his hair. _Maybe if I just show her the greenhouse and don’t tell her about the damage to the house it won’t distract her too much. If I tell her nothing that will definitely make her worry more. I can’t show her how I look though, especially not with this shirt._

In one swift motion he tugged his shirt off, wincing slightly as it pulled against his marred skin, and tossed the shirt by the hamper. He grabbed a fresh black and yellow star tee from the dresser and more carefully slipped it on, trying not to aggravate his injuries. He turned back to the corner of the room by his bed where he left his apron hanging on and slipped it over his outfit, tying it firmly. He scooped up his phone and ran his other hand through his hair as he walked back to the balcony, opening the door with his elbow.

Feeling through his curls he found a few lingering cactus needles and opened his phone to his camera app look himself over. He walked the short few steps to the greenhouse and plucked the remaining needles from his hair, tossing them over the balcony’s edge before making his way to the ruined wall of the dome. He activated the door and soundlessly stepped inside. The bruise that was forming over his right eyelid was somewhat noticeable but the slight cuts from the needles were less so. With a quick adjustment of his filters, it was unlikely anyone would notice them at all in a photo. If he didn’t include the broken glass in his picture to Connie, it wouldn’t look like there was much damage at all. _Its fine, just angle yourself so she doesn’t see the hole in the dome. No reason to get her worked up when she’s got her presentation today. But that bruise, if I put a bandage over it, she’ll surely notice. How do I avoid making her worry more?_

He thought back to their recent conversation when she had been having a rough week of cramps. She had sent him a dramatic selfie: forearm draped across her brow, mouth open in a seemingly pained sigh, head tilted back and eyes closed. She had included the whole of her upper body in the shot, loose t-shirt flipped up slightly, exposed waist showing several inches of toned midriff, hot water bottle pressed into her aggravated side, and sweatpants hung low and tucked over the water bottle. At the time, he remembered blushing over seeing more of her abdomen then had previously had the privilege of, muscles firm from years of sword training and tennis. Connie didn’t wear crop tops, so this felt like a secret between the two of them.

But now, he recalled the pose, and if he adjusted it slightly so his forearm was over the injured eye, there would be no reason to call it into question. He would be playing back to a recent memory shared for his Jam Bud, not looking hurt and forlorn. It would be easy to downplay as not serious, so he could convince her to focus on her school day. _She shouldn’t have to worry about me,_ he thought firmly. He found the right position, had the filters just right to avoid drawing attention to any red marks along the arms or face, and imitated the expression a precisely as he could. He snapped the picture and looked it over. “My poor greenhouse,” he captioned, adding a few emoji that matched his overly-dramatic expression. With a tap the picture was sent. He added after, “everything’s alright now, just a mess I’ve gotta clean up.”

He glanced around the dishevelment, now that his task of easing Connie’s mind was complete. A few broken pots and upturned dirt as well as broken branches strewn the floor. Bluebell Connie had been tipped over from her rightful place on the stool where she sat, but other than a small bit of dirt having spilled out the flower was undamaged. He flipped the stool with his foot and scooped the overturned dirt back into the pot before setting the Bluebell upright with his unoccupied hand. He turned and scooped up a few broken branches lying and tossed them into his compost pile about before he noticed another pot flipped over. The flower itself looked like it may need a splint to keep it from wilting, but more concerning was that the pot it was in had cracked and a few broken pieces lay on the floor.

Steven was walking toward the broken pot when heard another ping and looked down to the phone. “What happened to the place?” Connie replied. He continued walking toward the broken pot but his focus was on the message to Connie.

“I’ll tell you later.” He answered, typing with his right hand and reaching forward with his left. “I’ve got it under control-“ he had the next sentence half typed before he was able to send. His balance was thrown off as he stumbled over a branch he neglected to pick up earlier and the phone tumbled out of his hand, forgotten as he moved to brace himself. Happy thoughts couldn’t come to mind quick enough to slow his fall. The hand that had been reaching for the broken shard of terra cotta met it with staggering pain as the broken pot pressed into his palm several inches deep. He let out a sound between a strangled cry and a shuddering gasp.

 _No, no, no, fuck._ He thought as he fumbled to his knees, trying not to focus on the throbbing feeling through his palm. _Why can’t I do anything right?_

He drew his injured hand to his chest and sprang back to his feet with the force of his free hand. His breaths came in hard, pained pants as he saw the blood begin to stain his apron. The sight had him fighting a gag. With an empty stomach, he knew if the nauseating feeling overtook his focus he would just be caught up dry-heaving and unable to stop the searing in his hand. _Get out of here,_ he thought, _who knows that the fuck bleeding on these plants would do._ He forced himself to walk quickly out of the greenhouse and back to his room, trying to keep the blood running from his palm from ending up anywhere but the apron already splattered red. Adrenaline had his heart thudding loudly in his chest and he fought back panicked instincts through his pain.

After opening the bedroom door he immediately noticed the stained and torn sleep shirt on the floor and grabbed it. By pressing a knee onto it on his bed, he cleanly ripped off a large chunk with his unhurt hand and pressed it into the wound to slow the bleeding. He hissed through his teeth in pain but was able to use his fingers of his left hand enough despite the hurt to keep the scrapped shirt in place. He bubbled his injured arm just past the wrist to keep himself from bleeding further onto anywhere else. He used the rest of the damaged shirt to shred into strips, using the same method of leverage with his knee, and draped them over his elbow before walking swiftly back to the porch’s back end.

 _Please don’t let them see this,_ he thought, please don’t let them hear me, _please don’t have them bother me. This sucks enough, I don’t want them to make me feel like more of an idiot. I don’t want to feel more pathetic_. After making his way to a part of the porch that couldn’t be seen through windows, he bubbled all of himself before releasing the one on the wrist of his hurt hand, pulling the rag to tamp the bleeding from between his fingers and set it across his left wrist. He turned the palm up to assess the damage and he felt his stomach turn with discomfort. The shard of the flower pot cut into his hand with at least a three inch long gash, and at its deepest point cut into thick muscle at the top of his palm. Dirt smeared across the broken flowerpot, meaning he wouldn’t be able to heal it immediately without risking infection, as he had suspected. He took a deep breath and bubbled his head as to avoid drawing attention if he cried out. _This is going to hurt, just get it over with._ He thought. He grasped the terra cotta piece with his right hand, and hesitated. _Here goes nothing._

Steven bit his lip and yanked on the broken piece from his hand. He wasn’t able to suppress a shout but with the two layers of bubble his voice would not be easily heard from inside the house. With a shuddering breath, he bubbled the shard of broken pot and sent it to a corner of his room before pressing the from his wrist rag into the cut and closing his fist. _Stars, that hurts._ He grabbed one of the strips from across his elbow, held one end between his fingers and took the other end in his teeth. With a quick motion he released his fist and wrapped the shirt strips around the wound, tying it off with his unharmed hand. He repeated the processes several times until he was sure the makeshift bandage would hold but not leak. Once finished, he rushed from outside the porch back into his room. He tossed the unused shredded shirt strips onto his bed, pulled off his apron, leaving it discarded on the floor and made his way down the stairs.

The gems each had their own task that they were working on to begin the work of restoring the kitchen and living area but quickly their eyes were drawn to him as he came down. Amethyst was carrying a large coffee table under one arm from her room in the temple. Garnet was taking food from the soaked cabinets and setting them on the far counter, or in a trash bin if they were ruined. Pearl was walking those food items onto what appeared to be a restaurant-grade set of metal shelving placed close to the temple door. Upon looking over to Steven they all had various expressions of distress and Steven avoided their eyes.

“I’m just going to the bathroom, don’t worry about me,” Steven urged guiltily, as he moved down the stairs.

Amethyst dropped the coffee table with a thud, narrowly missing her foot. Garnet sucked in an audible breath before quietly letting it out through her nose. Pearl dropped the box of rice in one hand with a thump and squeezed hard on the can in her other hand of vegetable soup until it popped, contents squelching through tight fingers and splattering to the floor.

Amethyst was the first to break the quiet. “Dude, your hand!” her voice pitched up and cracked as she said the last word, rushing to the foot of the stairs as Steven moved down and hurried toward the bathroom. He avoided her concerned gaze.

“I got it,” he replied.

“Oh, oh, Steven,” Pearl called from the kitchen, voice thick with uneasiness. She moved toward him with quick, purposeful strides. “That looks serious, let me help you-“ Steven turned his head over his shoulder but did not stop moving toward the bathroom.

“Pearl, I can handle this, you don’t need to see this. It’s gross.” He responded sternly. She stopped, but her arm reached out and her eyes watered without reaching their tipping point.

“I’m pretty sure she’s seen worse,” Amethyst interjected with a disdainful tone.

“Don’t worry bout it,” Steven said, opening the bathroom door with his unhurt hand. Pearl looked back to Garnet who stayed by the kitchen counter, her usual impassive expression looking tight and strained.

“Steven,” Amethyst called uneasily as Steven moved into the bathroom doorway. “You know when I lost my memory last spring, you said ‘I’ll be right by your side no matter what?’ That goes both ways, man. I can help. We can talk about this if you let me…”

“I can take care of this, Amethyst. Trust me,” he replied. She let out a slight huff as he closed the bathroom door.

“Well if you sound like you’ve collapsed in there I’m breaking down that door.” She snapped. “Don’t test me.” Steven turned toward the sink and ran the faucet, trying not to consider Amethyst’s warning.

“Garnet,” Pearl said in a hushed and anxious tone, “are you sure he’ll be alright? Those bandages he had were covered in blood.”

Steven yanked them off and ran his hand beneath the warm water, feeling the sting to his wound. His frame trembled slightly but his feet held beneath him. He tried to ignore their conversation, but unfortunately, his hearing was vigilantly trained and the running water wasn’t enough to drown it out.

“This injury will not require outside intervention, Pearl,” Garnet replied quietly. “It won’t do any good to press him further.”

He got a squirt of liquid soap and began washing the gash in his hand and area around it, seeing the soapy water stained red.

“This wasn’t the worse possible outcome,” Garnet continued as Steven cleaned the injury. “He could have gotten a piece of planter stuck in his face.” He tried not to think about that as he worked.

Still running the water over the hurt left hand, Steven opened the medicine cabinet and pulled out hydrogen peroxide and gauze, which rarely were needed but he was glad they had. He rinsed both hands to clear he blood off his right and shut the water off. He unscrewed the cap of the disinfectant and poured a small amount over the still bleeding gash, hissing through his teeth.

“Garnet, how did this happen? What can we do to help him?” Pearl ask.

Steven pressed the gauze to the cut and moved to sit on the lip of the tub. He brought his right hand to his mouth and licked along his fingers before pulling the gauze back with his pinky and thumb, and slid it across the injury, watching his healing spit sparkle and close the cut.

 _No reason to have to taste blood when I can just use my other hand to get the spit on it_ , he mused.

“I see lots of ways Steven could answer if we ask,” Garnet answered, “but I don’t know which is the truth. He’s hiding things again.”

Steven swallowed as he watched the muscles in his palm form anew. The deepest part of the injury, a dark spot about half an inch long, still looked an angry orange-red, but the edges went from pink to white in a new scar. He sighed and stood, looking himself over in the mirror.

“Is there anything we can do to?” Pearl said, tone hushed and fretful.

Steven glided his fingers back over his mouth and slicked them with his saliva. He took the spit and applied it to his face and arms, watching the marks from the cactus spines disappear.

“It’s better to leave it be, Pearl,” Garnet replied. “Trying to get answers out of him is only going to push him away.”

Steven lifted his shirt and rubbed a bit more saliva to the area around his gem, where the skin was tender. _Getting anything accomplished today will be harder if I’m constantly flinching from the pain around my waist. I can deal with the rest of it later,_ he thought. He straightened his shirt before moving toward the bathroom door, sparing one last glance in the mirror. _At least I look presentable_. He exited the room, tossing the bloody gauze in the trash.

Garnet was still busying herself with the food sorting. Amethyst shoved the debris of the old table from the couch nook with her foot and moved the new one in place. Pearl brought the mop back out to clean up the soup splattered on the floor.

“I’ll be upstairs if you need me.” Steven called, walking back to his room.

“We’ll be here.” Amethyst answered.

Steven retreated to his room but realized he didn’t have his phone, so he made a beeline for the dome one more time. He scooped it up from the floor and looked it over, grateful it was undamaged. Glancing around, he counted his luck that there were no drips of blood on the floor. 

Moving back to his room, he saw the few responses to his last text to Connie. “I hope everything’s ok.” The first message read. “Don’t leave me in the dark.” The second one said, a few minutes later, followed by a frowny face. “I have to get to class now, but get back to me when you can, ok?”

Steven sighed, and sent a reply. “Sorry. Hope you did well on the presentation.” He laid back down on the bed, setting the phone on his nightstand and decided it would be best to rest before trying to do anything else.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another Chapter with a bit more comfort. I think the first two eps off this hiatus eps refreshed me so I hope that you all like this chapter as much since its less angsty. Those last four before the finale though, woof. I think we could use a bit more lightness right now. I'm gearing up to watch it and I'm so nervous!
> 
> Some cat sign language and terms for you in case any of it’s confusing since Lion does make an appearance: head-butting is a sign of trust and bonding for felines, chuffing is the forceful exhale of air through a cat’s nose that sounds like a grunt or sigh but is actually a greeting, and the slow blink cats do is sometimes called a cat kiss and is another sign of trust and attachment.
> 
> I still be writing more after this is over, but it may take a bit to recover from it of the speculation is any indication.

Steven awoke from his nap only a short while after he had laid down. He didn’t have any intention to get right back up immediately, as Cactus Steven’s interruption to his sleep had broken before dawn and it was still early in the day. He had probably got about 5 hours of sleep before his nap, and based on the light coming in the room he had dozed for less than an hour. He didn’t have the urge to check his phone, it hadn’t woken him up and he was still quite tired. He found himself staring at a blank square of wall between his desk and his closet, trying to rest, but sleep would not come.

He mentally debated getting up for several minutes before he heard a soft but weighty thump on his glass door. He turned over slowly. Peering at him from the balcony was Lion, looking expectantly at Steven.

“Hey buddy,” Steven called, sitting up. He stretched and stood as the big cat pawed gently at the entryway. “I’m coming.” Steven crossed the room and opened the door, stepping aside for Lion to enter the room. The pink feline strode in, brushing the boy along the chest with his huge skull in an affectionate head-butt. Steven moved his hand along Lion’s mane as the big cat walked behind Steven and sat on the floor. Lion let out a friendly chuff and Steven scratched gently along Lion’s cheek and behind his ears. “You done exploring for now?” Steven asked.

Lion stared down at his charge before giving a slow blink and descending slowly to the floor near the stairwell. The big cat stretched out his rear legs before tucking his front paws under himself to lie comfortably and closed his eyes.

“Aww, love you too, Lion.” Steven said, giving him a pat between the ears before moving to the other side of the room to retrieve his phone. He unlocked it and shut off his alarm, which was due to go off in 10 minutes before checking his messages. The one new text he had was not from Connie, as he had hoped, but instead from Pearl.

“Garnet’s gone out but Amethyst and I are here if you need anything,” it read. When he went into his message to Connie, it noted delivered, but not read. He closed the app, disappointed. He set the phone back down to his end table and grabbed a new pair of jeans from the dresser, quickly getting dressed.

After pocketing his phone, he looked around his room. Pink sandals sat near the foot of his bed from where they had been haphazardly kicked off after he had laid down for his nap. The bloody apron he had stained earlier lay in a heap on the floor. The few unused fabric strips from his attempt to deal with his injury sprawled from the edge of the bed to the floor. The corner next to his desk shone pink from the glow of his bubble where he had sent the terra cotta shard, dried blood staining its surface. The cactus flower he had sat on the floor before he began vacuuming still was left in its place next to the tv stand.

Steven ran a hand through his hair. He walked to his shoes to slip them on, picking up the fabric strips as he went and moving toward his desk. He opened his drawer that held scissors, glue and construction paper and folded the strips on the desk before putting them inside, closing the drawer softly. He picked up the bubble in the corner, holding it gently in his hands. _I wonder if my blood would actually do anything to a plant._ He thought. _Maybe it would become like a super guardian._ Steven’s voice of reason chimed in, sounding almost exactly like Garnet and Connie speaking simultaneously, _don’t do it, that’s how the plague starts._ He took out his phone again and searched “How to get blood out of Terra Cotta” before setting the bubble on the bed and moving toward the closet.

He retrieved his jacket, setting his phone on the tv stand before putting the letterman on, and regarded himself in the mirror. The bruise above his eye healed when he had applied the healing spit to his face, but that did not help the bags under his eyes. _I need to wash my face and put on my eye cream,_ Steven thought. Besides the tiredness showing under his eyes, and needing to bush his hair again, he looked modestly put-together. No cuts from fighting Cactus Steven were visible and his outfit was in order. Nodding at himself, he picked up his phone, and slipped it into his pocket. He stepped around Lion who lounged comfortably near the glass door, and walked down the stairs. As he went, he noticed several bags on the landing which had a note sticking out of it. It looked like food, so he was glad Lion didn’t immediately stick his face in it and kept a mental note to listen in case Lion decided to help himself while Steven was downstairs.

On the main floor of the house, Amethyst was seated on the kitchen floor and Pearl stood by the kitchen island. Pearl was deconstructing the microwave on the empty stretch of countertop closest to the temple door, and Amethyst had a modest pile of faucets she was comparing with the sink’s pipe connection, trying to find one that would fit. Pearl turned and smiled at him as he came down the stairs. Amethyst glanced up with a nod and greeted him with a quiet “hey,” before returning to her task.

“Oh Steven,” Pearl called, “glad to see you’re up. Are you feeling ok? I went to check on you earlier and I saw you had fallen back asleep.”

“I was still kind of tired but I couldn’t sleep anymore, so I wanted to grab a drink and finish my morning routine,” Steven answered.

“Well, even though the sink is not fixed yet, there’s the water pitcher in the fridge.” Pearl replied. “That hasn’t sustained any damage, according to Garnet. She went to get glass and lumber for the repairs.” She paused and her smile shifted to something more strained as she glanced quickly to his hand and then back to his face. “How does your hand feel?” Pearl asked gently, with worry clear at the edge of her expression.

“It’s healed,” he replied, unbending his fingers and quickly showing it to Pearl. He left his palm exposed for only a few seconds and then curled his fingers closed, his hand pulled back to his side in a lose fist.

“Hmm,” she replied. “Alright. At least it’s not bleeding anymore. It still doesn’t look fully recovered.”

“Well it doesn’t hurt anymore,” Steven said, trying to keep the nerves out of his voice. “It’s not worth worrying about. I heal fast.”

“Ok, Steven.” Pearl answered. Steven approached the cabinets and retrieved a glass before walking toward the fridge. Pearl moved back to the microwave, sparing the occasional glance to Steven’s movements as she continued her task. Amethyst looked up at him from her pile of faucets as he grabbed the water pitcher from the fridge.

“How’d you get that cut on your hand anyway?” Amethyst asked, and Steven nearly spilled the water he was pouring out of surprise. He took a sharp inhale, trying not to look at her as the pink spread over his cheeks.

“I fell,” he replied. “I was cleaning in the dome and there was a piece of broken pottery on the floor. When I went to brace my fall my hand landed on it.” Amethyst winced in sympathy. He returned the pitcher to the fridge and sipped from his glass, impatient to finish the conversation.

“Ouch,” she answered, looking him over and Steven couldn’t help but feel nervous. “If you want some help with the dome-“

“It’s fine,” he interrupted with a wave of his unmarred hand. “I’ll be more careful. Just got unlucky that I happened to land on a broken pot. You don’t need to worry about it.”

“Okay,” she answered, sounding unconvinced. He gave an uneasy smile.

“If you could do one thing though,” he requested.

“Sure, what’s up?” She asked.

“I’m gonna run to the bathroom to wash my face,” he replied.

“Walk, don’t run Steven,” Pearl quipped from over her shoulder as she worked as screwdriver on the microwave.

“Peeaaarl-“ He drawled at her with an eye-roll. Amethyst chuckled quietly. Steven continued, “Anyway, Garnet left some food on the stairs and Lion just came back a few minutes ago. Do you mind making sure he doesn’t get into the bags? Also, please save me some if you have any.”

“Yeah sure,” she answered with a shrug. “I’ll wait until you have some to have a snack since it’ll probably be late until all this is fixed up.”

“And please don’t eat my soup in the fridge,” Steven said as he set his glass on the counter. “I’m saving it for later.” Amethyst gave a thumbs up as Steven walked toward the bathroom and she returned to her pile of faucets. He closed the door behind him before seeking out his face wash and eye cream from beneath the sink. He ran the tap to a warm temperature, wetted his face and applied his facial cleanser before rinsing again. With practiced and gentle taps, he put on his eye cream and grabbed his brush as he let the skincare product do its work. He ran the brush through his curls, undoing the tangles from tossing and turning in his sleep. After he was satisfied with his hair, he rubbed the eye gel into his under-eyes and rinsed the excess from his fingers. He gave himself another once-over in the mirror.

“Not too shabby, Steven,” he said quietly aloud. His stomach grumbled in response. “I should probably eat something before I brush my teeth.” He opened the bathroom door and strode out into the living area. Amethyst was affixing one of the faucets to the sink-head with a wrench and Pearl continued her work on the microwave as he moved back to the kitchen to grab his drink. As he turned to head back to his room, a familiar voice came from the steps outside.

“The front of this place looks like a couple of Topaz just barreled through it.” Bismuth said as she came through the hole in the wall. “What happened to it to make it look so Janked?”

“Bismuth, language!” Pearl shouted, and Amethyst snickered.

“Hey Bis,” Amethyst called.

“Ya’ll said it needed some fixin’ but dang,” she responded, not acknowledging Pearl’s admonishment. Bismuth’s eyes wandered around the room for another moment before focusing on Steven, who had stopped mid-way through the living area. “So what’s shaking, gems? Is whatever did this-“ She paused as her gaze fixed on a point on Steven’s person that caught him off guard. Her voice dropped in volume and rose an octave in pitch. “Is that blood?”

Immediately, he glanced down at his outfit, not noticing anything at first. He used his free hand to stretch out the fabric of his shirt and his gaze finally caught the dried speckle of dark red that dotted the black tee where his right shoulder met pectoral. The spots were barely noticeable in the distinction of color, but several of them were quarter-sized. “Oh, I hadn’t noticed it stained my shirt,” Steven replied. “I’m fine now.”

“Is the threat neutralized?” She asked darkly, shifting her fist into a mallet. Pearl approached from the kitchen.

“Yes, Bismuth,” she replied, striding past Steven and laying a hand on Bismuth’s forearm. The burly gem shifted her hand back to normal.

“How’d you even see that stain, anyway?” Steven asked quietly, straightening his shirt back.

“During the war, gems weren’t the only ones fighting for earth’s freedom.” Bismuth answered. “Rose somewhat reluctantly inspired a lot of humans to fight by her side.”

“There were many who loved her, and believed in her cause,” Pearl added. “She hated seeing them hurt but there were many that wouldn’t stay away from the fight.”

“It wasn’t pretty,” Bismuth said. “Guess my eyes just trained on it since sometimes that was the only way to tell if a human could be saved. Stood out on the aftermath of the battlefield, that’s for sure.” Bismuth got a far off look in her eye and Pearl gripped her hand, snapping her back to the present. “You sure you ok, Steven?” He managed a tense smile.

“Yeah,” he replied quickly. “I cut my hand working in the greenhouse and it made more of a mess than I thought. Don’t worry about me.”

“Alright,” she said. “Well, this house ain’t gonna fix itself. So what’s first?” Amethyst stood from kneeling at the sink and walked toward he taller gems. “Amethyst, you said you got parts in your room?”

“Yeah,” she answered. “I probably have some sink basins in the junk piles. Could be some other good stuff too. Follow me.” Amethyst and Bismuth walled toward the temple door. Pearl moved towards the kitchen and gently rested a hand on Steven’s shoulder.

“I’ll be in the kitchen if you need anything, Steven” she said as the other two gems disappeared into the temple. Steven nodded as Pearl moved away.

“Oh, ok.” He replied. He walked up the stairs and grabbed the food bags as he went with his free hand. Lion appeared to be sleeping but once Steven set the food on the bed the crinkle of plastic caused the cat’s eyes to open. Steven set his water cup on the nightstand and sat down on the bed. After changing his shirt he turned his attention back to the bag. He pulled out Garnet’s note first.

“This is all the food that doesn’t need preparation or refrigeration we have right now. If you want hot food, call Fish-stew or ask Greg to use the microwave at the car wash. Ours isn’t safe to use right now.

Love, Garnet” he sighed as he read aloud. He dug around in the bag and immediately lion was at his side. He pulled a granola bar out, sat the snack in his lap and bubbled the rest of the food.

“Not for you,” he said to the feline. “I’ll get you Lion Licker later, ok?” Steven unwrapped the packaging on his snack and forced the bubble up, drifting toward the rafters and out of Lion’s reach. Lion head-butted Steven’s side again and the boy ran his free hand through the big cat’s mane as he ate. They sat in contemplative quiet Steven finished the granola bar. With a light toss, Steven threw the wrapper in the trash and took a sip of drink. Lion regarded him as he set down his glass, before Lion turned and moved towards the door.

“Going back out?” Steven asked as he stood. The pink feline waited by the door and Steven slid it open. Lion took a few steps out, his front half on the porch and rear half still in the bedroom before stopping. He turned his head and looked back at Steven. “What is it?” Steven asked. Lion set his hind leg closer to Steven, nudging him gently and giving another slow blink. “I guess I don’t have anything I need to be doing right now, if you’re trying to tell me you want me to go with you.” Lion chuffed in response and stepped out of the doorway.

Steven stepped onto the porch and closed the door behind him. He sent a quick text to Pearl, “Going for a ride with Lion, be back later.” After returning his phone to his pocket he mounted the great cat. With a roar, Lion charged forward into a portal and the swirling blur sent the boy and his feline familiar to a dark field.

Steven’s eyes took barely any time to adjust and he recognized that he was on a floating island above the Strawberry Battlefield. Stars still shone in the sky as the moon hung overhead and below the lip of the floating isle’s edge he saw some dusting of snow on some of the unflowered strawberry plants below. Lion laid down quickly and rolled the young man off of him unceremoniously.

“Lion,” Steven scolded. The big cat adjusted himself so he had Steven’s shoulders along his flank and rested his great head on his front paws. Steven moved to sit up but Lion stretched his hind leg across Steven’s lap, preventing him from going anywhere. “If you just wanted me to lie down with you for a while we could have done that at home.”

The big cat huffed in response and closed his eyes. Steven let out a quiet groan as he realized without really pressing the issue, he likely was not going anywhere soon. He retrieved his phone from his pocket, quietly thanking his foresight to ask his father for International data as he checked his messages. Pearl had replied, “Ok, be safe.” He opened his conversation with Connie which had a timestamp as Read 8:23am, but no reply yet.

 _I hope she’s not mad at me,_ Steven thought. _If she’s mad or worried because of me I don’t want it to mess up her presentation._ His gaze trailed up from his phone and he looked to the stars shining overhead. He noticed many constellations he recognized, a few that he didn’t, and perhaps it was because he wasn’t usually stargazing at the right time of evening to catch these star patterns. Predawn light came in gently from the east as he watch the stars shift across the sky. The sound of Lion’s heavy breathing and the mild breeze were the only sounds as he watched stars fade and the sunrise shine onto the eastern horizon. He brought his phone back up from lap after the colors began to dance across the sky and snapped another picture for Connie. He added the caption “We should watch the sunrise sometime together when you get some free time. I didn’t even have to be up early to see this one.” After the sun crested the skyline, bathing the field in light, he began to nudge Lion’s foot with his knuckles.

“Ok, that’s enough forcing me to sit still for hours.” Steven pestered the big cat. Lion let out a huge yawn and slowly sat up, stretching his front paws beneath his chest. With one more nudge from the young man, Lion removed his foot from Steven’s lap. “Ugh, my legs fell asleep,” Steven said with a groan as he stood. Lion approached the edge of the floating island and turned back to his charge. “Let’s go, Lion.” Steven instructed, mounting the cat. Another huge roar ripped through the quiet and the pair charged through the portal returning to the beach-house.

* * *

Steven spent the bulk of afternoon doing more cleaning, including getting the bloodstain off the terra-cotta shard, repairing the damaged sheet with Greg’s sewing kit, and washing dirty laundry. Having a sandwich for a late lunch between his other tasks, he headed out to go grab dinner at Fish Stew Pizza. He kept up appearances, making small-talk with Kiki as he got dinner. He drove out to the edge of town to get groceries, and found himself not wanting to go home as the sun set.

Connie had messaged him earlier, letting him know her presentation was fine, and they went back and forth trying to set up a time on a future weekend to watch the sunrise over strawberry battlefield. They settled on two weeks from now, which felt far away, but he understood. Her studies were important, after all. He couldn’t whisk her away on a whim, as much as that’s what his heart desired.

On his ride back from the grocery store, he felt the pull of Brooding Hill and took the ride there to finish his meal and watch the sunset. After about an hour, Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl found him there, staring out into the ocean.

“I thought we’d find you here,” Garnet said with a warm tone.

“You hadn’t come back in a while, and you didn’t answer when I called,” Pearl murmured.

“Yeah, my phone died,” Steven replied, not looking toward the gems.

“Everything ok?” Amethyst asked. Steven hummed in response. Pearl stepped forward with a strained smile, hands fidgeting.

“Room for three more?” She asked. Steven didn’t answer immediately.

“Actually,” he said, tone quiet and hesitant, “I think I need to be alone for a bit.”

“Oh,” Garnet said, seeming caught off guard. Pearl’s smile dropped and she stepped back.

“Ok,” Amethyst said, breaking the silence, curling her hand into her hair. “We’ll be back at the temple if you need us.”

“Yeah,” Steven replied. “See you back there.” The gems retreated, expressions dejected as they left the teen by himself. He watched the sunset until the sky was dark and wandered back home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If Rebecca isn't going to punch us in the gut with the bringing back of "Room for three more?" then I will, damn it.
> 
> Edit: I loved the ending but any comments should be spoiler free for those who haven’t seen it yet. This work will only be including Prickly Pair as spoiler territory, though I may have a scene related to this fic that I want to pop into a one-shot. I appreciate all the comments I’ve been getting on my SU work lately and before I start on anything new I will be responding. I’ve just had my plate full for a while and I still have one more chapter of the Connverse one-shots to bang out. Happy Finale day everybody, and thanks for reading!


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